Stay-arm



' F. D. LEWIS.

STAY ARM.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 29. I917.

Patel 1W1 Aug. 12, 1919.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK D. LEWIS, OF WEST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO PATHE FRERES PHONOGRIAPI-I COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A COR- PORATION OF DELAWARE.

STAY-ABM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 12, 1919.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK D. LEWIS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of West Orange, county of Essex, and State of New Jersey, have invented certaln new and useful Improvements in Stay-Arms, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to stay arms for cabinets. Among the objects of the invention is the provision of a stay arm which is automatically operable to perform its functions under all conditions. My improved stay arm is not dependent for its operation upon the action of gravity and operates equally well whether the cabinet stands in vertical position or not.

Another object of the invention is the provision of such a cabinet stay arm which may readily be manipulated so as to permit the cover of the cabinet being lifted beyond its usual open position, and, if desired, to be turned substantially entirely back, which is a feature of great convenience as during the finishing of the cabinet, permitting ready access to the interior thereof at the upper end, as for assembly, cleaning and adjustment of the arts of the machine, as, for example, a p onograph, contained in the cabinet.

Other objects of my invention will appear in connection with the following description, and with the foregoing and related objects in view, my invention consists in the parts, improvements and combinations herein set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing I have illustrated the preferred embodiment of my invention for the purpose of affording a clear understanding thereof, but it is to be understood that the same is for illustration only and that I am not to b limited to the specific form shown, except as is required by my claims.

In said drawing, forming a part of this specification and wherein the same reference numerals are uniforml used to designate the same parts throng out, Figure 1 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of a phonograph cabinet equipped with a stay arm embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the stay arm support and guiding member. Fig. 3 is a etail cross-sectional view showing the frictional pivotal mounting of the stay arm in the cabinet lid, and Fig. 4 is a perspective View of a friction spring washer.

The body of the cabinet 10 has the lid 11 hinged thereto at 12. The stay arm 13 is plvotally secured to the lid 11, suchpivotal securing means preferably embodying a friction device, so that the arm 13 will not turn upon its pivotal mounting in the lid 11 by gravity, but only when a moderate amount of force is applied for that purpose. In the form shown a pivot plate 14 is at tached to the interior of the lid 11 by screws 15, and a rivet 16 is passed through the plate 1-1 and the stay arm 13, and a friction spring washer 17, which is shown in perspective in F ig. 4, is interposed between the head of th rivet and the face of the stay arm, holding it in frictional contact with the plate 14. Other means for securing such a frictionheld pivotal mounting of the stay arm in the lid may be resorted to.

The stay arm 13 has a laterally projecting stud 18 at or near its lower end for coacting with the stay arm guide and supporting means, which is attached to the interior wall of the cabinet body 10. The support and guide member for the stay arm is designated generally by the reference numeral 19, and it Serves to secure the automatic control of the stay arm coacting therewith. The member 19 may conveniently be struck up from sheet metal and may comprise portions 20 and 21 joined by an off-set wall 22,

the portion 21 may have a spacin or distance piece 23 which may be formed by bending the material at the end of the portion 21 substantially at right angles, as shown. The member 19 is secured on the inner wall of the cabinet body, as by a screw 24 in an opening 25 in the portion 21 and screws 26 in openings 27 in the portion 20, the spacing member 23 serving to fix and determine the distance of the portion 21 from the wall, and a block 28, as of wood and preferably with a thickness equal to the width of the spacing member 23 plus the width of the ofl"-set 22, and through which the screws 26 may pass, may be interposed between the portion 20 and the interior of the cabinet wall. A washer or buffer 29, which may be of soft rubber or of similar material, may be placed around the screw 24 and between the portion 21 and the wall of the cabinet, and the same, not being relied on for spacin purposes for which the projection 23 su 'ces, may be of soft material, as rubber, making an excellent buffer, so that the forward edge of the stay arm 13 which contacts thcrei-vith will not be marred thereby, as would he the case if a material sufliciently hard to act as a spacing device as welltasabulfer be used instead. The space between the portion 21 of the member 19 and the cabinet wall is sufficient to freely receive the stay arm 13, but the stud 18 projects therebeyond, while the space between the portion 20 and the cabinet wall is suflicient'to accommodate both the stay arm and its stud 18.

Means for guiding the stay arm so as to make its operation automatic upon proper manipulation of the lid are provided in the portion 21 of the member 19. At the lower part thereof it is provided with a substantiall hook-shaped member 30 having a preferab y rounded under surface 31, and a downwardly and backwardly inclined recess 32 is provided on the upper side of the hookshaped member 30, which is terminated by the projecting portion 33 of the off-set wall 22. Above the point 34 of the hook-shaped member 30 is a recess 35 opening downward and having an inclined forward wall 36 and :1 preferably substantially vertical rear wall 37 which leads to a downwardly projecting point 38 located somewhat in the rear of the point 34, and in the rear of said point 38 the member 21 extends upwardly and backwardly, preferably as shown at 39,, and immediately in the rear thereof the off-set wall 22 is cut away, as indicated at 40. In the rear of said cut away portion 40 means are provided for contacting with the stud 18 of the stay arm and preventing its further backward movement, and the same may conveniently be formed by providing the member 20 with a projection which is bent over, as indicated at 41, and downward, as at 42. Such stop member, however, provides sufficient room between the inner portion 43 thereof and the cabinet wall to permit said arm 13;-itself to pass therebetween. The portion 20 is ofisuflicient width to leave an open space wider than the stay arm 13 between the member 42 and the adjacent wall of the block 28.

The operation of the apparatus shown is as follows:

Upon opening the lid 11 the stay arm passes between the portion 21 of the member 19 and lthB wall of the cabinet, and the stud 18 thereon contacts with the rounded lower surface 31 of the hook-shaped member 30 and is forced to the left thereby, and passin the point 34 thereof comes into contact with the inclined surface 36 and rides back thereon, coming to rest against the rear wall -37 0 the recess 35, at which position the upward movement of the lid is stopped.

If now the lid be permitted to drop or be moved down slightly, the stud 18 contacts with the top surface 32 of the hoop-shaped member and rides back thereon until substantially the bottom of the recess has been reached and the stud 18 is in contact with the portion 33 of the cross wall 22, and in Such position the lid 11 is held up by the stay arm. If it now is desired to close the lid the same is preliminarily lifted slightly, whereupon the stud 18 contacts with the sum face 39 and is forced back thereby. It can not, however, move backward beyond the stop piece 42. If new the lid is moved downward there is nothing to oppose the downward movement of the stay arm and the lid may be readil closed, the arm, upon the closing of the cal iinet, coming into con-- tact, durln its descent, with any convenient means, suc for example, as the back wall of the cabinet, whereby it is turned slightly forward on its pivot with respect to the cabinet lid so that upon the lid being raised the pin 18 011 the arm 13 comes into contact with the surface 31 and is guided as already set forth.

If, however, as is frequently the case, particularly in finishing the cabinet or in cleaning the machine, it is desired to open the lid further back and even to substantially complete open position, it is only necessary to manually push the stay arm 13 ,back beyond the stop 42, the lid being lowered somewhat for this purpose, and then to lift the lid to ahigher position, whereupon the stay arm and its stud 18 pass through the open space between the stop 42 and the block 28, and the lid may be freely opened to any extent desired, and to restore the stay arm to its normal operating position, in which it acts automatically to support the lid, it is only necessary to reintroduce the end of the arm 13 and its stud into said open space between the stop 42 and the block 28 and to close the lid, whereupon it serves the purpose of an automatic stay arm and is operated as has been already set forth, the stay. arm being pushed to the left asithe lid closes by any suitable means, as, for example, by contactthereof with the lower end of the block 28. The position of the stay arm 13 shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1 indicates one-position which the arm may occupy when removed out of the supporting member 19. If desired, it may, however, be moved still farther back than shown. It will be understood that the provisions for extra opening of the stay arm are not dependent on; the same having a frictionally held pivotal mounting in the lid, but maybe made use. of equall y well with a stay armfreelyswinging by-gravi-ty.

f the stay arm should at anytime come in contact-with the soft budfe1n29, as may happen, there will be substantially no marring of the forward ed e of contact therewith. The operation 0 the arm is carried out regardless of the position of the machine, not being dependent upon gravity, but the various positions of the arm are positively determined by the circuitous path which it follows through the member 19 and the frictional pivotal support which the arm is given in the casing lid and which prevents it moving freely under the influence of gravity, thereby assuring the positive operating character of the device under all conditions, which is a feature of distinct advantage, as is also the freedom with which the lid can be opened beyond the normal position when desired.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A cabinet, a lid therefor, a stay arm, a pivot on the lid on which the stay arm may turn, a spring washer on the pivot for frictionally retarding the turning movement of the arm, a member in the cabinet with which the stay arm is automatically engaged on raising the lid and automatically dlsengaged for lowering on again raisin the lid, said member being adapted to positively control the movement of the arm in opposition to the retarding action of the said spring washer, so that the movement thereof is substantially independent of the force of grav ity.

2. A cabinet, a lid therefor, a stay arm pivoted to the lid, a guiding and supporting member for the stay arm in the cabinet with which the stay arm is automatically engaged on raising the lid and automatically disengaged for lowering on again raising the lid, means for securing the said member by its opposite ends to the cabinet wall, and means w ereby the stay arm may be entirely released from said member to permit turning the lid to completely open position, the arm being adapted when released to pass upwardly between the means for securing the ends of the member to the cabinet to a substantial distance above said member.

3. A cabinet, a lid therefor, a stay arm pivoted to the lid, a laterally projecting pin on said arm, a substantially flat member secured to the cabinet by its opposite ends and spaced away from the cabinet wall to provide a passage for said arm between it and the cabinet wall, means on the forward part of said member for cooperating with said pin to cause the lid to be automatically retained in opened position when raised and to be freed for lowering when again raised, said means terminating forward of the rear fastening device for said member and an open space being provided immediately for ward of the rear fastening device whereby said pin may be lifted freely upward along with the arm, and the lid turned back to substantially completely open position.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereto set my hand this 17th day of January, 1917.

FRANK D. LEWIS.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "(Jonmfiasioner ot Iatents, Washington, D. 0. 

